Bristol Bears were beaten 16-22 by Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate on Friday night in Round Five of the 2026/27 Gallagher PREM

Rugby is at tough old game without a functioning lineout, and playing with 13 men, and Bristol Bears found out the hard way on Friday night as Leicester Tigers moved to the top of the Gallagher PREM table with a bonus-point 22-16 victory at Ashton Gate.

Tigers took advantage of Bristol having two men in the sin bin either side of half time, with Matias Moroni and then Tom Jordan dispatched for yellow cards in short succession, both for high tackles, to score 10 points in their absence, which ultimately proved the difference.

Leicester’s tries came from Freddie Steward, Adam Radwin, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Jamie Blamire, with Billy Searle adding one conversion. Searle's lack of potency from the tee kept the Bears in the game until the last play of the match, but the hosts lacked cutting edge, with handling letting them down and player of the match Ollie Chessum terrorising the hosts' lineout.

Louis Rees-Zammit scored the Bears’ only try, with James Williams adding three penalties and a conversion to secure a losing bonus-point, which they seemed happy with as replacement scrum-half Kieran Marmion ended the match rather than try and go 98m.

Bristol took a sixth-minute lead thanks to a stunning solo effort from the Welsh flyer Rees-Zammit. The wing received possession 35 metres out from the try-line, but from an unpromising position, he stepped in-field and skipped past two defenders to race in under the posts.

Leicester’s response was swift, with bursts from Finn Carduff and Cameron Henderson putting the defence on the back foot before a well-judged cross-field kick from former Bear, Searle, saw Steward collect to crash over.

Minutes later, the visitors looked to have taken the lead when their skipper Ollie Chessum forced his way over, but TMO replays so showed the ball had gone forward when Aaron Wainwright’s penetrative run was brought to an end.

Bristol also came close when Rees-Zammit was presented with another opportunity but under pressure from the challenge of Tom Whiteley, he just failed to collect his own kick ahead as the line beckoned.

The hosts then suffered two blows in quick succession when centre Mathias Moroni and full-back Tom Jordan were both yellow carded for dangerous challenges.

Leicester capitalised when an alert Searle sent a long kick deep into the opposition 22, with Radwan showing exceptional speed to be first to the ball and touch down.

Radwan almost had another when he chased another kick ahead, but this time he failed to gather so the Tigers had to be content with a 12-7 interval lead.

Ninety seconds after the restart, Leicester extended their advantage when another cross-field kick found Hassell-Collins in acres of space to score his side’s third.

Bristol were brought back to full strength before Williams reduced the arrears with a straightforward penalty.

Basic handling errors from Radwan and replacement Will Wand gave the Bears the chance to build an attacking platform, but they were too frenetic to benefit until Williams knocked over a second penalty.

The game hung in the balance, but the away pack produced an unstoppable line-out drive for Blamire to secure the bonus-point, with Searle missing his third conversion to keep the home side in the hunt.

A third penalty from Williams, seven minutes from time, set up a tense finish, but the Tigers held on for a deserved victory despite Searle hitting a post with a last-minute penalty to hand Bristol one last chance to try and go the length of the field but they instead opted to secure the losing bonus point.

Bristol Bears: A. Tom Jordan, B. Louis Rees-Zammit, C. Matias Moroni, D. James Williams, E. Gabriel Ibitoye, F. AJ MacGinty, G. Harry Randall; H. Ellis Genge, I. Gabriel Oghre, J. George Kloska, K. Pedro Rubiolo, L. Joe Batley, M. Steven Luatua, O. Fitz Harding (c), N. Luka Ivanishvili

Replacements: P. Tomas Gwilliam, Q. Jake Woolmore, R. Lovejoy Chawatama, S. Josh Caulfield, T. Joe Owen, U. Kieran Marmion, V. Jack Bates, W. Ben Grondona

Leicester Tigers: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Adam Radwan, 13. Solomone Kata, 12. Orlando Bailey, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Billy Searle, 9. Tom Whiteley; 1. Archie Van der Flier, 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Cameron Henderson, 5. Ollie Chessum (c), 6. Aaron Wainwright, 7. Finn Carnduff, 8. Olly Cracknell

Replacements: 16. Samiuela Moli, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Will Hurd, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Joaquin Moro, 21. Jack Van Poortvliet, 22. Will Wand, 23. Gabriel Hamer-Webb

Referee: Luke Pearce

ARs: Karl Dickson and Jonathan Cook

TMO: Stuart Terheege